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Liberal Partyunveils fullSenate slate

VOL. XXIX NO. 243 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 TUESday : OCTOBER 13, 2015 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

A2

Chaos,killingmar 1stfiling day

GRACE BY A MILE

4-WAY PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST BY MAJOR AREAS AND LOCALITY

23%

Poe DuterteBinay

NATIONWIDE

METRO MLA.

S. LUZON/BICOL

N./C. LUZON

URBAN

RURAL

VISAYAS

MINDANAO

UndecidedRoxas

22%10%

20%

19%33%

22%

22%30%

27%19%19%

19%

24%

21%25%

41%46%

42%

47%37%

36%

41%40% 11%

17%

24%

10%6%

7%20%

13%1%

1%

1%

1%

POE ROxASBINAY

DUTERTE

By Joyce Pangco Paares

SENATOR Grace Poe posted a wide lead over other pos-sible presidential candidates in the 2016 elections, re-sults of the second The Standard Poll showed.

The survey, conducted by resident pollster Junie Laylo from Sept. 21 to Oct. 1, had 1,500 respondents, all of whom are registered vot-ers with biometrics from 76 provinces across the coun-try and the 17 cities in the National Capital Region.

Respondents were asked to choose from eight pos-sible candidatesPoe, Lib-eral Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, Vice Pres-ident Jejomar Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Du-terte, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, Senators Ferdi-nand Marcos Jr. and Miri-am Santiago, and former senator Richard Gordon.

StandardStandardPOLL

The

StandardStandardPOLL

The

3-WAY PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST BY MAJOR AREAS AND LOCALITY

Poe Binay UndecidedRoxas

26% 26%13%

21%19%

36%31%

23%27%

28%

31%

31%22%

22%

24%

27%

47%4%

1%

1%

3%

55%46%49%

42%

47%50%

45%

NATIONWIDE

METRO MLA.

S. LUZON/BICOL

N./C. LUZON

URBAN

RURAL

VISAYAS

MINDANAO

A2editorial@thestandard.com.ph

news

Chaos, killing mar 1st day of filing

Grace...From A1

t u e s D AY : O C t O B e R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

CHAOS marked the first day of filing of certificates of candidacy, presaging even worse problems on Election Day next year, one former poll official said Monday.

In a phone interview, the for-mer poll official who asked not to be named expressed dismay over how the Comelec handled the crowd, particularly the candidates and the media.

If you think there was no sys-tem during the filing, just imag-ine what it will be like during the elections, the former official said.

The town mayor in Zambo-anga Sibugay, Randy Climaco, became the first casualty of the 2016 elections after he was killed in an ambush hours after filing his certificate of candi-dacy for vice mayor. Six others who were with him, including the vice mayor of Tungawan, were wounded in the attack.

Police said Climacos group was aboard a pickup truck travel-ing from Barangay Batungan to Barangay Libertad in downtown Tungawan when they were am-bushed by unidentified gunmen.

During the first day for the fil-ing of COCs, Comelec officials

and staff in their Manila head office had to deal with an unruly crowd inside and outside the Pa-lacios del Gobernador.

In an interview, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the chaos was partly caused by the change in procedure where the Commission en banc decided to separate the room for the filing of COCs from the interview area.

While this affected the media coverage, the actual filing went well, Jimenez said.

Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senator Gringo Honasan were the first candidates who offi-cially expressed their intent to run for president and vice president, respectively.

At exactly 8 a.m. the United Na-tionalist Alliance candidates went straight to the Project Manage-ment Office where they filed their COCs and then proceeded to one end of the lobby where the media were waiting.

Chaos ensued, however, as photojournalists jostled for posi-tion to get to the UNA candidates while they were walking toward the far end of the lobby.

After failing to contain the me-dia, some staffers shouted at the reporters in the hall, demanding to know which media outlet they represented.

You are not allowed to do an ambush interview here. The in-terview should be there, one staff members said, pointing to the far end of the lobby.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista lost his patience and stood before the cameramen and tried to blocked them from shoot-ing Binay and Honasans walk to the interview area.

Bautista, about six feet tall, tried to cover the lenses of at least five cameras to prevent them from filming the candidates.

Jimenez said this was the first time in the history of elections that Comelec officials and staff became aggressive in the way they handled the media.

Its never been like this, right? said Jimenez, who also raised his voice at the journalists at some point.

In a radio interview, Bautista blamed the chaos on the media, saying they do not know how to follow rules.

The problem was your col-leauges. You need to follow the rules, Bautista told reporters in an afternoon press conference.

A source in the poll body said the new procedure was Bautistas idea to make the filing of COCs more orderly.

In the past, the filing of the COCs was held inside the PMO where media were also stationed so they could ask the candidates about their platforms and cam-paigns.

Jimenez said they would fine tune the process to avoid simi-lar incidents when other popular candidates file their certificates.

During the day, the Comelec

also bent its three companions only rule when most candidates refused to file their COCs without their families and relatives pres-ent.

In an ambush interview, Binay said it was the UNA selection committee that picked Honasan to be his running mate.

Honasan said his family was reluctant to let him run for vice president, but he convinced them to agree.

They understand that this is a calling, a sense of duty. I am a good soldier. I am the result of the [selection] process that the party went through, so I will follow the party that I am helping organize, Honasan said.

Others who filed for the presi-dency were former Technical Ed-ucation and Skills Development Authority Augusto Syjuco Jr.; lawyer Elly Pamatong; and for-mer Presidential Commission on Good Governance chief Camilo Sabio. The failed senatorial can-didate who filed a disqualification complaint against Senator Grace Poe, Rizalito David, also filed his certificate as a candidate for presi-dent.

Former lawmaker Panfilo Lac-son was the first to file a COC seeking to return to the Senate. He is running as an independent.

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Col-menares filed his certificate of candidacy also for the Senate, ac-companied by his niece, actress Angel Locsin.

Colmenares said he was run-ning so that someone in the Sen-ate would fight for the people and work to increase salaries and pensions and decrease the cost of power and water.

On the first day, there were 22 aspirants for president, three for vice president, and 16 for senator.

Independent candidates in-cluded a farmer, a tricycle driver, an engineer, a military man and a law student,

On Tuesday, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to file his COC for vice president.

Liberal Party candidates for the presidency and vice presidency, Manuel Roxas II and Rep. Leni Ro-bredo, are expected to file their cer-tificates Thursday, while Poe and Senator Francis Escudero are ex-pected to file on the last day, Friday.

The start of a week-long regis-tration process began on Monday for more than 18,000 positions up for grabsfrom the presidency down to village captain levelin the May elections.

Another big name contesting next years elections is boxing hero Manny Pacquiao, who is ex-pected to be able to capitalize on his fame to win a seat in the Sen-ate.

Pacquiao, 36, is currently a member of the House of Repre-sentatives, and is widely seen as going for the higher-profile Sen-ate post as a potential platform for an eventual presidential run. With AFP

Duterte, Estrada, Marcos, Santiago and Gordon were in-cluded in the list because they had not declared their final decision on their 2016 plans during the survey period.

Poe, with a plurality of 32 percent, led the survey across all geographic areas where her ratings ranged from 28 to 35 percent.

Roxas placed second at 19 percent, followed by Binay (14 percent), Duterte (10 percent), Estrada (9 percent), Marcos (7 percent), Santiago (6 percent), and Gordon (1 percent).

Poe also led across all economic classes, genders, and age groups, with ratings ranging from 28 to 32 percent.

By ethnicity, Poe was the top choice among the Taga-logs (29 percent), Cebuanos (35 percent), Ilonggos (36 percent), Ilocanos (30 percent), Bicolanos (40 percent), and Muslim groups (27 percent).

It was only among the Warays that Poe placed second with 19 percent, with Binay taking the lead at 42 percent.

The survey also showed that Poe was the most trusted among the possible presidential bets with a net trust rat-ing of +66, followed by Roxas (+39), Santiago (+38), Du-terte (+25), Estrada (+20), Binay (+18), and Gordon (+1).

Respondents were also asked who they would vote for if their candidate of choice backs out from the presiden-tial race. Most respondents who did not pick Poe as their first choice said they would vote for Poe, given that sce-nario.

In a four-way fight among Poe, Roxas, Binay and Du-terte, Poe would even increase her lead to 41 percent, while Binay and Roxas would be tied for second place with 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively.

In a four-way contest, Duterte would be in third place with 13 percent, despite his statements during the survey period that he would not be running for President.

In the first The Standard Poll in May, Poe was at sec-ond place, trailing four points behind Binay who got 28 percent.

The Standard Poll has error margins of +/- 2.6 percent for the national results and +/- 6 percent for the regional results. All regions were represented in the survey.

Laylo, The Standards in-house pollster, has 25 years of experience in political polling and strategic research.

REDISTRIBUTED VOTES IN CASE A SPECIFIC CANDIDATE PULLS OUT OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Election season. Unknown presidential candidate Ephraim Defino, clad in a leather cowboy hat and red jeans, shows his certificate of candidacy after registering his candidacy at the Commission on Elections headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. AFP PHOTO

A3T U E S D AY : O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

UNAs team. Vice President Jejomar Binay welcomes his running mate, former Senator Gregorio Honasan, at the Commission on Elections head office in Manila.

Complete slate. President Benigno Aquino III leads the proclamation of the LP candidates for the Senate. LINO SANTOS

Liberal Party proclaims full Senate ticket

Poe tells bets to prove their worth

Ombudsman indicts Veep Binay

By Macon R. Araneta

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Grace Poe on Monday urged her fellow candidates in the 2016 elections to show what stuff they are made of as she insisted that the politi-cal campaigns should not be transformed into a circus.

While she herself belongs to a show business family, be-ing the daughter of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. and actress Susan Roces, Poe said she would want the Fili-pino electorate to appreciate me for what my presidential plans are, hear what they need and propose immediate solutions to these while on the campaign trail.

All leaders need charisma to lead, to inspire. But if you

transform your campaign into a circus, you will just be taking away much of the peoples precious attention from the messages you want to convey, Poe said on the first day of the filing of cer-tificates of candidacy by the people running in next years elections.

Poe said she fully supports the plan of the Commission on Elections to hold televised debates particularly for the candidates to the higher posi-tions in the 2016 elections.

That way, we can remove all the pomp and pageantry that are usually seen at campaign sorties and allow the voters to see and hear for themselves how we will be able to handle the countrys problems, Poe said in a statement.

Although she belongs to a show business family, Poe said she would want the Fili-pino electorate to appreciate the platforms of government she would present to the peo-ple.

She said the campaigns should be caravans of intel-lectual discourse and meet-ings of the mind.

Lets show the stuff we are made of, what we want to do for the country, what the peo-ple can expect from us, she said.

That way, we can remove all the pomp and pageantry that are usually seen at cam-paign sorties and allow the voters to see and hear for themselves how we will be able to handle the countrys problems. With PNA

THE ruling Liberal Party on Monday fi-nally bared its full ticket at its headquar-ters in Cubao, Quezon City, before its candidates finally file their certificates of candidacy for next years elections.

President Benigno Aquino III and administration bets Manuel Roxas II and Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo led the senatorial line-up that is a mix of former Aquino Cabinet officials, sec-toral representatives and reelectionist senators.

In the partys 12-man senatorial slate were Senate President Frank-lin Drilon, Senators Ralph Recto and Teofisto Guingona III, former Presi-dential Adviser on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis Pangilinan, and Former Presidential Assistant on Rehabilitation and Recov-ery Panfilo Lacson.

Completing the list were former En-ergy Secretary Jericho Petilla, outgoing Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, outgoing Technical Education and Skills Develop-ment Authority Director-General Sec-retary Joel Villanueva, former Akbayan Rep. and outgoing PhilHealth Director Risa Hontiveros, former Pampanga Gov. and Tourism Infrastructure and Enter-prise Zone Authority Chief Mark Lapid, and newcomers COOP-NATTCO party-list Rep. Cresente Paez and DILG Assist-ant Secretary for Muslim Affairs and Special Concerns Nariman Ambolodto.

Drilon said Paez and Ambolodto

were the candidates that are not too well known but he expected them to be famil-iar to the public in the next six months.

Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo said the LP remained unfazed by the absence of its key allies during the 2010 presi-dential campaignthe National Unity Party, the Nacionalista Party and the Nationalist Peoples Coalitionduring Mondays presentation of its senatorial lineup.

House Speaker Sonny Belmonte will be the general campaign manager of the LP-led coalition, with Quimbo and Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez serving as spokesmen of the Team Daang Ma-tuwid.

Caloocan Rep. Edgardo Erice, mean-while, will remain the partys spokesman.

In his speech, Roxas highlighted the achievements of the LP-led coalition in the legislature, including the pas-sage of the General Appropriations Act and some landmark bills including the GOCC Reform Act, the Sin Tax Reform Law, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, and the Phil-ippine Competition Act.

We need a good interaction between the legislature and the executive, an in-teraction that isnt grounded on political convenience, Roxas said.

Aquino slammed the critics of his fa-vored bills including his proposed Bang-samoro Basic Law.

Just think: If we do not pass the BBL,

that means continuing the cycle of di-vision; it means our countrymen will remain mired in violence and poverty; it means lending proof to the shortcom-ings of the ARMM, where even just one corrupt person elected into office can af-fect the future of all, Aquino said.

He said the LPs 12 senatorial candi-dates were chosen out of their steadfast belief in the straight path rather than their popularity in the preferential polls.

Our primary criterion in deciding who to include in the slate was their readiness to continue our journey along the Straight Path, Aquino said.

He slammed the enemies of the straight path.

Now, how will we know who our true partners are? Let us look at the character-istics of the enemies of the Straight Path. First, there are the empty promises where they say that they will give us everything while always forgetting to mention how they will fulfill those promises.

Second, there are those who lie to our faces. I just shake my head whenever I hear the statements they makeas if they were not among those who op-pressed us before.

The third: it is clear that they themselves admit that their track record is dismal, which is why they attempt to portray all others as having as dismal or downright bad a record as they have. John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta

By Rio N. Araja and Vito Barcelo

THE Office of the Ombudsman on Monday indicted Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son, dismissed Makati City mayor Er-win Jejomar Binay Jr. on criminal charges for the questionable construction of Makati City Hall Building II.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales also found prob-able cause to file multiple charges for violation of the An-ti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, malversation of pub-lic funds and falsification of public documents against 22 other city officials.

The Binay camp denounced the Ombudsmans decision and said the timing of its announcementjust minutes after Binay and his running mate Senator Gregorio Honasan filed their certificates of candidacyproved that the charges were politically motivated.

This is a case of abuse of power by the Ombudsman, said Binays spokesman for political affairs Rico Quicho. The tim-ing is suspicious because they fully knew that the VP would file his COC.

He added that there was malice in the Ombudsmans or-der because she was fully aware that the vice president is covered by immunity and may not be removed except by impeachment.

The criminal charges arose from allegations of irregulari-ties in the bidding and construction of the Makati carpark building project undertaken from 2007 to 2013.

The finding of probable cause comes after more than a year-long fact-finding investigation. The preliminary investigation began in March.

The older Binay is facing four counts of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, six counts of falsification of public documents and one count of mal-versation for his involvement in phases 1 and 2 of the carpark project.

In two separate resolutions on six docketed cases, flagrant anomalies were found to have been committed by Binay Sr. et al. in the design and construction of the building consisting of six phases, the Ombudsmans decision read.

Based on documents obtained by the Ombudsman, Binay and his son approved the bids and awards committees reso-lutions, notices of awards, contracts and payments using un-numbered and undated disbursement vouchers and obliga-tion requests.

Morales rejected the vice presidents argument that the anti-graft body had no jurisdiction to investigate impeachable of-ficials, saying being an impeachable officer does not insulate him from investigation.

The Office of the Ombudsman stressed that VP Binay is being investigated for criminal acts committed while he was a city mayor and not as vice president, her official statement read.

At all events, impeachable officers, like Binay Sr., are with-in the investigatory power or jurisdiction of this Office.

The charges would be filed after Binays tenure of office as vice president, Morales said.

The younger Binay faces four counts of violation of the An-ti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, six counts of falsification of public documents and one count of malversation for his in-volvement in phases 2 to 6 of the project.

A4T U E S D AY : o c T o b E r 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

Romualdez runs for Senate

SC urged to protect lumadBy Maricel V. Cruz and Florante S. Solmerin

BAYAN Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares urged the Supreme Court to rule favorably on the pending pleas for writs of amparo and habeas data to stop the killings of tribal leaders and the alleged har-assment by the military against the indigenous people in Mindanao, called lumad.

The congressman made the appeal as fresh complaints of harassment were raised by edu-cators in Davao Oriental who claimed the military blockaded the Mindanao Interfaith Serv-ices Foundation Inc. Academy in Banganga town.

We have already filed writs of amparo and habeas data before the Supreme Court, said Colmenares, who filed his certificate of candi-dacy for senator on Monday ac-companied by his niece, popular actress Angel Locsin [real name: Angelica Colmenares].

Locsin, at the same time, urged the military to help stop the esca-lating violence in lumad commu-nities by pulling back from the lumads ancestral lands.

I am calling for the military pullout from lumad ancestral lands, said Locsin, who had been supporting the operation of lumad schools in Mindanao.

As of now, there are still lumad who cannot even return to their homes, said the actress, who had also visited the very school that the military claimed to be infiltrated by communist insurgents. Over 3,000 evacuees are still in various evacuation centers. We should help them return to their homes.

The actress said the schools she visited have been very effec-tive in educating tribal children and urged the military to respect the need to exclude schools from security operations.

I think there should be no par-amilitary forces in schools which should be considered sanctuaries of education. If you had children, would you want armed people in your childrens school. Of course, you will want those schools to be always peaceful, Locsin said.

But in Banganga, Davao Ori-ental, Milagros Maglunsod-Tan accused the military on Monday of blockading the Mindanao In-terfaith Services Foundation Inc. Academy which was supposed to

be inaugurated on Monday.Tan claimed that soldiers of

the 67th Infantry Battalion, led by a certain Lt. Miguel Porras, pre-vented guests from arriving or leaving the school premises.

They were not allowing any-one in or out of the area for a week until they could suppos-edly clear it of rebels, Tan said. Whats happening now is there was this collapse of civilian su-premacy over the military.

Military-backed datus and their armed militiamen have been trying to close down all lumad schools built for them by international and local non-government organizations on the pretext that they were being used by the communist New Peoples Army to propagate communism.

But Colmenares said there was no truth to the claim of the mili-tary and announced he and his group will file administrative civ-il and criminal charges, especially against professional false roving witnesses, coddled by the mili-tary and the military and police involved in the harassment cases.

Colmenares said their group have petitioned before the high court to issue a protection order and force the military to reveal any information that has led them to decide that schools should become part of security operations.

The congressman said 70 people who are trying to help the lumad restore normalcy in their lives have been included in a list for still un-determined reasons and they sus-pect that it was a hit list.

The supposed hit list, ac-cording to the human rights or-ganization Karapatan, is append-ed to the criminal complaint for kidnapping, serious illegal detention and trafficking filed against supporters of some 700 lumad who had sought refuge at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines Haran Mission House in Davao City.

LEYTE Rep. Ferdinand Mar-tin Romualdez will file Tues-day his certificate of candida-cy for senator in a bid to bring more compassion in public service, including extending genuine benefits for persons with disabilities.

Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, will be running under the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats which he heads as president, but he is also being eyed as guest candi-date by the camps of Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay as well as Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

House Deputy Speaker and Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao, president of the Nationalist Peoples Coa-lition which is perceived to carry the Poe and Sen. Chiz Escudero tandem, said

Romualdez will definitely be a senatorial candidate of their party.

Well-placed sources also said Romualdez will be endorsed by the National Unity Party, Partido ng Masang Pilipino of former President-turned Ma-nila City Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and Partido Demokra-tio Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.

The United Nationalist Alli-ance of Binay has been drafted Romualdez as one of their sena-torial candidates.

In the case of Duterte, former North Cotabato Gov. Em-manuel Piol, an ally of the mayor, disclosed that Romual-dez is included in Dutertes Dream Team of senatorial candidates.

At the same time, AKO BI-COL party-list Rep. Rodel Bat-ocabe, a lawyer and spokesman of the 40-man Party-list Coali-tion Foundation Inc., said the

group is receptive to the sena-torial bid of Romualdez after their meeting last Friday.

Romualdez has been recog-nized for his work in pushing for the rehabilitation and rebuilding of Yolanda-hit areas despite the snail-paced action and assistance of the government.

Romualdez is also the author of a legislative measure exempt-ing PWDs from the payment of 12-percent value added tax on certain goods and services.

He is the principal author of House Bill No. 1039 which seeks to amend Section 32 of Republic Act No. 7277, otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability, as amended by Republic Act No. 9442.

Romualdez strongly ap-pealed to the House and Sen-ate leaders to immediately convene the bicameral con-ference committee to approve the measure.

Uncles pet. Popular actress Angel Locsin (Angelica Colmenares in real life) makes a pitch for her uncle Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, who filed his certificate of candidacy for senator at the Commission on Elections headquarters in Intramuros, Manila on Monday. EY ACASIO

Charges filed vs. TolentinoBy Rio N. ArajaTHE Gabriela National Alliance of Women filed on Monday a complaint before the Ombudsman against resigned Metro Ma-nila Development Authority Chairperson Francis Tolentino for violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and the Magna Carta of Women.

The charges were filed by Rep. Emmi de Jesus, Gabriela secretary general Joan May Salvador, Arlene Brosas of Gabriela-Metro Manila and Sr. Mary John Mananzan, Liza Maza of the Working for Empowerment and Good Governance, Judy Taguiwala of the Womens Committee of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Gabriela Krista Lluch Dalena of Tanggolbayan and Maria Carmen Sarmiento of the Writers in Prison Commit-tee, Philippine Center of International PEN.

Gabriela condemned Tolentino for his al-leged role in the supposedly lewd perform-ance of an all-girl group during the birthday

celebration of Laguna 4th District Rep. Ben-jamin Agarao Jr. last week and urged voters to reject politicians who see women as gifts to be abused.

Respondent Tolentino, who is not only then the head of a government agency but who is also a lawyer by profession, failed to maintain and promote the required ethical standards as a public official, the complaint further stated.

Tolentino, Laguna Representative Ben-jamin C. Agarao Jr., and other officers of the Liberal Party tried all the possible excuses they could find to wash their hands off any scandal that would taint their personal and their partys political ambitions for this up-coming election.

The group also slammed Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, a Liberal Party stalwart, for blaming the girl group Playgirl over the controversial incident that took place right after the LP oathtaking on Oct. 1 in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

Running for president. Rizalito David, who filed a disqualification case against Senator Grace Poe in August, brings his certificate of candidacy for president to the Commission on Elections headquarters in Intramuros, Manila on Monday. JANSEN ROMERO

A5T U E S D AY : o c T o b E r 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

NEWSeditorial@thestandard.com.ph

TD@40: Teach, love, commitThe Tulong Dunong Foun-dation will stage a night of music, musings and giving, a musical fundraising event for the benefit of the Tulong Du-nong Scholars Support Fund. The Tulong Dunong Scholar-ship Program which began in 1976, was an offshoot of the TD Tutoring Program of the Ateneo high School, founded by Fr. James OBrien S.J.

Realizing that poverty dampens the human spirit, and was preventing many Filipino youth from achiev-ing their dreams of progress and development, Fr. OBs vi-sion was simple, To provide a venue for growth and devel-opment to deserving public school students who have lim-ited opportunities and access to these opportunities. Thus, TD was created as a platform to their enhanced education.

In celebration of its 40 years, Tulong Dunong is having a mu-sical fundraising event featuring current and alumni Ateneo tal-ents as well as non-Ateneo per-formers supportive of the TD program. Bukas Palad, Indak, Jim Paredes, Buboy Garovillo, Noel Cabangon and eric Santos are just a few of the performers Tulong Dunong has lined up for that special evening. TD@40, Teach, Love, Commit will be on Oct. 17, 2015, Saturday, 7 p.m. at the henry Lee Irwin Theater in the Ateneo campus. For ticket sales, donations and sponsor-ship inquiries, you may contact: Tulong Dunong Foundation Inc. Look for elma Fungo or Apolla Tolentino Contact No. 426-6001 ext. 6294 Ateneo high School

Glorietta blast: Court pavesway for trial of two suspects

In a 16-page decision, the CAs Tenth Division through Associate Justice Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo dismissed the petition for cer-tiorari filed by Ricardo Cruz, an engineer, and Miguel Velasco Jr. assailing the resolution of the De-partment of Justice that held them criminally liable for the blast.

Cruz was the Operations Man-ager of Metaline enterprises, while Velasco was its foreman under Metaline enterprises, the contrac-tor of Makati Supermarket Corp. where the explosion occurred.

Metaline was contracted by the

Ayala group to install the ventila-tion system in its basement.

Investigators ruled out bomb explosion. It was found that the accumulated amounts of methane gas that was produced from the waste water and the diesel vapor in the basement of the MSC Building from Aug. 4 to Oct. 18, 2007 was enough to cause the explosion.

In ruling against the petitioners, the appellate court upheld the find-ings of the DoJ in finding probable cause against Cruz and Velasco for the crime of Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Multiple homicide,

By Rey E. Requejo

The Court of Appeals has paved the way for the prosecution of the two accused in the Glorietta blast in Ayala Center in Makati City on Oct. 19, 2007 that led to the death of 11 people and injur-ing 108 others.

Multiple Physical Injuries and Damage to Properties.

The CA ruled that the DoJ did not commit grave abuse of discre-tion in filing the criminal charges against Cruz and Velasco, saying it is within the province of the prosecution to determine probable cause.

The determination of probable cause for purposes of filing infor-mation in court is essentially an executive function that is lodged at the first instance, with the public prosecutor and, ultimately, with the Secretary of Justice, the appel-late court ruled.

The CA also pointed out the prosecutor and the Secretary of Justice have wide latitude of dis-cretion in the conduct of prelimi-nary investigation and their find-ings with respect to the existence or non existence of probable cause are generally not subject to review by the Court.

The appellate court junked the

arguments of the petitioners that they were not among those origi-nally charged by the complain-ants, specifically the Multi-Agency Investigation Task Force Glorietta, then prepared by P/Chief Supt. Luizo Ticman.

however, the CA ruled that what is material is the actual complaint filed by Task Force Glo-rietta which is composed of the DoJ panel of prosecutors headed by the late Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera.

The appellate court also dis-missed the petitioners argument that they shall benefit in the rul-ing of another division of the CA on Nov. 17, 2008, which cleared the other accused namely Clifford Ar-riola, Joselito Buenaventura, Char-lie Nepomuceno, Jonathan Ibuna and Juan Ricaport for lack of due process against them.

Besides, the CA noted that the petitioners committed a wrong remedy in appealing the case.

Lawmaking 101 for House neophytes set By Maricel V. CruzINCOMING new members of the house of Representatives next year need not undergo trainings and workshops on legislation and leg-islative work somewhere else because Congress now has its own Institute for Legislation and Legislative Governance, or simply Legislative Institute, to train and orient them on lawmak-ing and legislative governance, among others. This came after the house of Representatives adopted house Resolution 212 of Speaker Fe-liciano Belmonte Jr., that will pave the way for the establishment of the Legislative Institute. The resolution, co-authored by Majority Floor Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, Minority Floor Leader and San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and representatives of major political parties in Congress, seeks to establish the Legislative Institute as an in-stitutional continuing education program to further develop the capabilities of legislators and the house of Representatives Secretariat to strategically manage legislation, the legislative process, and legislative governance.

The Legislative Institute will principally serve as a continuing training and education program for members of the house and their

staff, the officials and staff of the house Secre-tariat, including applicants for positions there-in and such other persons and entities who may have need of knowledge and skills on legisla-tion and the management of systems, processes and resources relating to legislation and legisla-tive governance, Belmonte said.

Belmonte also said the Legislative Institute will also develop, provide for and implement training courses, inclusive of conducting semi-nars, workshops and other educative projects and learning activities to impart, enhance and expand skills knowledge and more related ca-pabilities on legislation, legislative systems and procedures.

Under the hR 212, the Legislative Institute will also manage and administer legislative support services, including the harnessing of information and communication technology in legislation, and the undertaking of such ac-tivities relating to the generation of resources in support of the conduct of these activities.

This is a dream come true for us because now we have our own Legislative Institute to educate more and train house members, es-pecially the newly elected ones, on everything about legislation and the legislative process. even our legislative support service staff will be

included in the knowledge and skills enhance-ment programs, Belmonte said.

Belmonte pointed out the Legislative Insti-tute will harness the experts of professionals in disciplines impacting on the conduct of legis-lation, legislation management and legislative support services inclusive of the expertise and institutional knowledge of former members and legislators who have had extensive experi-ences and exposure in the field of actual legisla-tion and the dynamics thereof.

The resolution named the house secretary-general as the program Manager of the Leg-islative Institute and tasks the official to su-pervise and coordinate the formulation and implementation of training and education ac-tivities, modules and other related initiatives. In a statement, house Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap said the establishment of the Legislative Institute is a historic develop-ment in Congress this year, and a landmark achievement of the 16th Congress under Bel-montes leadership.

Barua-Yap said it is about time Congress, the primary lawmaking branch of the gov-ernment, has its own training institute just like the other branches and agencies of the government.

Party-list coalition. Members of Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc. flash their thumbs-up sign to two possible senatorial candidates Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte (7th left) and former Akbayan Rep. Rizza Hontiveros during the groups executive membership meeting at Kimbee Restauran in Quezon City. Also in photo are (from left, standing) PCFI executive director Sannah Frivaldo, Reps. Ashley Acedillo and Gary Alejano both of Magdalo, TUCP Rep. Raymond Mendoza, Cibac Rep. Sherwin Tugna, ACT-CIS Rep. Sammy Pagdilao, Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez, Coop-Natco Rep.Anthony Bravo, ACAP Rep. Rico Geron, AVE Rep. Eulogio Magsaysay, An Waray Rep. Nonoy Piamonte, (from left seated) Butil Rep. Pit Guanlao, A Teacher Rep. Juliet Cortuna, 1 Sagip Rep. Erlionda Santiago, and Coop-Natco Rep. Cresente Paez. VER NoVENo

Oil prices up; dieselcostlier by P0.70By Alena Mae S. Flores

The countrys oil firms on Tuesday raised the price of diesel by P0.65 to P0.70 per lit-er, kerosene by P0.70 per liter and gasoline by P0.10 per liter effective Tuesday to reflect the movement in world prices.

eastern Petroleum Corp. on Monday announced that it will increase the price of diesel products by P0.70 per liter at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday. eastern Petroleum said the latest price adjustments reflect the uptrend in world oil prices at the close of last weeks trading.

Analysts say the market remains to have a glut in petroleum products. And industry experts even note that it would take time for oil supply and demand to rebal-ance, and global demand for energy is seen to grow by a third over the next 20 years, eastern Petroleum said.

Other oil firms like Pet-ron Corp., PTT Philippines and Seaoil Philippines also raised pump prices.

Petron said it adjusted gaso-line by P0.10 per liter, diesel by P0.65 per liter and P0.70 per liter for kerosene to reflect the movements in the international oil market and ethanol.

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

NEWSA6T U E S D AY : O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

Pea-Mercado teamup vs Binay

In Manila, 3-way fight shaping up

QC mayor seeks 3rd term, crows about hefty gains

Running for councilors under Peas ticket are: Nico Garcia, Virgilio Batalla, Mario Cruz, Jocelyn Her-nandez, Raymond Kahiwat, Nilo Lopez, Jessielyn Trini-dad, Victorio Umandap and Jose Villena IV for District 1; and Boyet Cruzado, Efren Arenas, Ernesto Aspillaga, Jeffrey Baluyot, Judith Ce-los, Artemio Contreras II, Hilario Lorico, Kristina Sa-rosa and Mario Hechanova for District 2.

Hechanova, a former city general services division chief, recently filed an af-fidavit relative to the case filed against suspended Mayor Junjun Binay and his father Vice President Je-jomar Binay saying former city engineer Nelson Mo-rales told him that the elder Binay ordered that biddings for the construction of the Makati Science High School be rigged.

Pea made the decision to run for mayor after tak-ing over the city from May-or Junjun Binay who was ordered suspended, and later dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman also came up with a decision perpetually disqualifying the young Binay from hold-ing public office.

But legal experts said Jun-jun can still run for any elec-tive post, saying the decision of the Ombudsman was not final and could still be sub-ject to judicial review before it can be carried out.

The camp of Binay stated earlier that Makati Rep. Abby Binay may run for mayor of Makati in case the

Commission on Elections did not allow her brother to seek a new term of office.

Mayor Binay vacated his post last July to serve the six-month preventive suspension order against him in connec-tion with the alleged irregu-larities in the construction of Makati Science High School and City Hall Building II.

His lawyers maintained that the allegations hurled against the Binays are base-less and politically motivated.

They said the allegations did not have factual nor le-gal basis, and were made as part of an organized demo-lition campaign against the Vice President, who is the leading candidate for the 2016 presidential polls.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee conducted a probe last year into the case stemmed on the complaints filed by two former village captainsRenato Bondal and Nicolas Encisoclaiming that the construction of New Makati City parking building was overpriced by P1.3 billion.

Bondal and Enciso chal-lenged both the Vice Presi-dent and the mayor to prove that their complaint was po-litically motivated.

Bondal, who ran but lost to Binay in the last elec-tions, claimed the build-ing is the most expensive parking building in the en-tire country.

The younger Binay last year exposed the plan of the opposition block to unseat him and members of the city council to pave the way for the designation of Pea, a Liberal Party member, as acting mayor.

By Joel E. Zurbano

MAKATI Citys Romulo Pea Jr., the acting mayor, has filed his certificate of candidacy for the citys top elective post, teaming up with Karla Mercado, daughter of former vice mayor Ernesto Mercado, who is the principal witness in the Senate investiga-tion of alleged irregularities in the city hall.

MANILA 5th district Rep. Amado Bagatsing on Monday filed his certificate of candidacy armed with a platform calling for a New Manila.

Bagatsing is running for mayor in a city where his late father Ramon Bagatsing had served for 15 years from 1971 to 1986, the longest-serv-ing among local chief executives. He is pitted against the incumbent May-or Joseph Estrada and former mayor Alfredo Lim.

Lets help each other to attain our common goal to bring back the old glory of Manila. This is what I intend and definitely, with your help and sup-port, we can show the world that Ma-nila is back, that businesses are thriving within our city and that Manileos are contented and happy, he said.

Bagatsing and his running mate Ali Atienza, son of former Manila mayor and now Buhay Party List Rep. Lito Atienza, will run under Kabalikat ng Bayan sa Kaunlaran, a local political party he founded in the 80s.

If elected, Bagatsing promised to establish an organize local govern-ment focused on eliminating corrup-tion and expansion of basic health, infrastructure and social services with the help of six lawmakers repre-senting the city.

The 67-year-old solon is also plan-ning to intensify free education, scholarship grant programs and sports projects for the youth, as well as providing manpower training pro-grams and livelihood projects for un-employed residents.

Also under the ticket of Kabaka

party are Manny Lopez, son of for-mer Manila mayor Mel Lopez, who is running for congressman in the 1st district; reelectionist 2nd dis-trict Rep. Carlo Lopez; incumbent Councilor Don Juan Bagatsing, also for congressman (4th district); Cristal Bagatsing (5th district), and Sandy Ocampo (6th district).

Collective role from business-es and individuals is important, Bagatsing said.

If given a chance to serve as may-or, he said, he would also ask the business sector to give priority to hiring the legitimate residents of Manila. We have to equip also the police force, clean up the image of Manila physically. Police enforce-ment against drug abuse will be fully implemented. Joel Zurbano

By Rio ArajaQUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Monday delivered his fifth and last state-of-the-city address of his second term, crowing about his gains and his ability to free new fund sourc-es for the citys development through tough negotiations.

On the 76th foundation day of the city, Bautista de-clared his third and last bid as mayor in the 2016 nation-al and local polls.

He took into account the ac-complishments of the city gov-ernment under his term, saying he has introduced several deter-mined but commonsense mea-sures to free idle assets of pend-ing obligations into productive revenue contributors to the city.

Total revenue gross col-lections for the Quezon City government reached P15.5 bil-lion in 2014. For the first nine months of this year, gross col-lections have already reached P14.63 billion, which already covers the 2015 budget target of P14.46 billion, he said.

According to Bautista, another determined negotiations of the city government finally resolved the 33-year-old settled account from the Land Bank of the Phil-ippines, he noted.

In 1982, the local govern-ment unit placed P30 million in trust with LandBank, which the bank lent to Ramawil Prop-erties without any enforceable collateral, he said.

The security used by Ramawil was falsified land titles, prompt-

ing the LandBank to file a case.The LandBank won and

obtained the Ramawil proper-ties, but the city government was not able to collect against the bank until this year when a compromise agreement was finally signed between the local government and LandBank.

With this agreement, the city government gets back the P30 million and also P142 million in interest earnings, which repre-sents fresh money for develop-ment projects, Bautista said.

He said he has also pushed for strategic partnerships with the National Housing Author-ity, Road Board and the citys Department of Public Order and Safety to expand the citys housing stock by 21,707 shelter units.

Early bird. Manilas 5th District Rep. Amado Bagatsing (left) is joined by daughter Cristal after filing his certificate of candidacy for the mayoralty race at the Comelec headquarters on Arroceros Street in the historic Intramuros. EY ACASIO

PCSO aid form. Top executives of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office hold copies of the revised Individual Medical Assistance Program form that will gather data necessary for the socio-economic evaluation of people seeking medical assistance from PCSO. From left: Betty B. Nantes, PCSO director; Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas III, PCSO general manager; Francisco Joaquin III and Mabel V. Mamba, PCSO directors. PCSO has adopted a new procedure that eliminates the interview portion of the request for assistance as part of PCSOs ASAP (At Source Ang Processing Program) during its launching held at PCSO Extension Office in Quezon City on Monday. LINO SANTOS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

t u e s d ay : o c t o b e r 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

news A7

Ex-Iligan mayor surrenders after two months in hiding

High Court junks disqualification case against Norzagaray officials

By Froilan Gallardo

Cagayan de Oro CityFormer Iligan Mayor Celso Regencia, who has been in hiding because of his alleged involvement in the ambush of Rep. Vicente Belmonte, surrendered to authorities Monday morning, the national Bureau of Investigation said.

NBI regional agent in charge Alex Caburnay said Regencia surrendered to officials of the Iligan City Jail after hiding for almost two months, \after a court issued warrants of arrest against him and 10 others.

I commend the decision of

the mayor to trust our judicial system by submitting himself to the jurisdiction of the court, Caburnay said.

The Regional Trial Court Branch 44 in Initao, Misamis Oriental issued the warrants for three counts of murder

Agriculture Dept. boosts cloud seeding versus El Nio

By Rey E. RequejoThe Supreme Court has af-firmed a Commission on elec-tions order dismissing a 2013 disqualification case against a mayor, a councilor and a vice mayoralty candidate in Norza-garay, Bulacan.

In a 17-page en banc ruling written by Associate Justice Jose Portugal Perez, the SC dismissed the petition for cer-tiorari filed by former Mayor Feliciano Legaspi that sought to annul Comelec Order SPA No. 13-323 for allegedly being issued with a grave abuse of discretion.

On May 14, 2013, Legaspi, losing candidate in the 2013 mayoral elections, filed a dis-qualification case against Alfredo Germar, Rogelio Santos Jr. and Roberto esquivel on the grounds of rampant vote buying.

Germar and Santos emerged as winners during the election, securing the positions of mayor and councilor, respectively, while esquivel failed in his bid for vice mayor.

After the Comelec Special First Division rendered a res-olution disqualifying Germar and Santos from the respec-tive positions of mayor and councilor, a motion for re-consideration was filed before the Comelec en banc, which resulted in a split vote.

A rehearing was conducted, nevertheless, and the Comelec again failed to muster a ma-jority consensus.

The Comelec issued the as-sailed order, pursuant to Sec-tion 6, Rule 18 of the 1993 Comelec Rules of Procedure, which states that if no rehear-ing, no decision is reached, the action or proceeding shall be

dismissed if originally com-menced in the Commission...

Aggrieved, Legaspi sought recourse with the SC.

To resolve the issue, the SC distinguished between the different outcomes resulting from the Comelec en bancs failure to decide.

Thus, under the provision, the first effect [i.e., the dismiss-al of the action or proceedings] only applies when the type of case before the Comelec is an action or proceeding originally commenced in the commis-sion; the second effect [i.e., the affirmance of a judgment or or-der] only applies when the type of case before the Comelec is an appealed case; and the third effect [i.e., the denial of the pe-tition or motion] only applies when the case or matter before the Comelec is an incidental matter, the SC ruling said.

The Department of Agriculture on Monday said it is intensifying cloud seeding operations as it bol-sters its efforts against the harsh effects of el Nio.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that the agency will not waste any opportunity to seed all seedable clouds to mitigate the worsening effects of the weather phenomenon, expected to last until March next year.

Cloud seeding is a weather-modification method where chemical nuclei such as silver iodide or calcium chloride are introduced in the atmosphere to induce condensation, and eventu-ally, precipitation.

Moisture collects around these nuclei and fall as rain upon reaching a certain saturation level.

The departments Bureau of Soils and Water Management had been conducting cloud seeding operations in strategic locations nationwide since last year.

however, Alcala emphasized that cloud seeding is only one of the many interventions used by the DA to combat the effects of el Nio.

Though this technology is beneficial to many agricultural lands, this may not be required or suitable in some areas, he said.

The Agriculture chief said that as early as April 2014, the DA has already started preparing for the impacts of el Nio on the coun-trys agriculture sector.

For long-term adaptation mea-sures, the DA has improved the countrys small-scale irrigation sys-tems to make these more resilient to the effects of extreme weather and climatic conditions, as well as other calamities, not only el Nio.

It has also promoted climate- and disaster-smart farming and fishery technologies to cushion the agro-fishery sector against the effects of calamities.

The DA has also released drought-tolerant rice varieties and other alternative crops in threat-ened rice-producing areas.

and six counts of frustrated murder against Regencia; his bodyguard, Police Officer 3 Alfeo Arnoco, Amado Baller, Rogelio Pitos Sr., Romeo Sug-anob, Peehay Capanpagan, Ju-lito Oros Ansad, Dodo Silvano and Rogelio Pitos Jr.

Arnoco went on absence without leave and also went into hiding along with the rest of the suspects.

Several gunmen ambushed the convoy of Rep. Belmonte after it left the Laguindingan Airport in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental last Dec. 11, 2014.

Three of Belmontes body-

guards were killed in the ambush, while the congressman and five others were wounded.

Pursuit operations later arrest-ed one of the gunmen identified as Dominador Tumala of Osmea town, Zamboanga del Norte who provided the court with the de-tails of the ambush plans and Re-gencias alleged participation.

Before he went into hiding, Malacaang have suspended Regencia for 60 days for abuse of authority after allegedly strip-ping Iligan Vice Mayor Ruderic Marzo of his authority to ap-point casual employees at the Sanggunian Panlungsod.

Mud on the face. Any tourist visiting Lake Agco in Kidapawan City never goes home without trying the mud facial mask from the boiling lake. The mud is believed to be medicinal because of its sulfur content. AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN

A good day. Fishermens wives in San Esteban, Ilocos Sur, are happy at their husbands catch. DAVID CHAN

And the Aquino administra-tion had already decided to put itself under the UN working groups jurisdiction. After all, it replied last June to the charge of Arroyo advocate Amal Al-amuddin Clooney that the de-tainees human rights were vio-lated, through the Philippines permanent representative in Geneva, thus tacitly agreeing that the group can and should rule on the matter.

But now that the panel has decided the case, the Aquino government has decided that the decision is of no value, be-cause the Philippines has its own laws and the UN cannot enforce its decision. What the government is not saying is that

OPINIONA8

[ EDI TORI A L ]

CLASH OF CLOWNS

A9ADELLE CHUAE D I T O RT U E S D AY : O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

BEFORE the story is buried under the news of who or what has filed his, her or its certificate of candidacy for the coming elections, I feel compelled to say: the Aquino administration has been conclusively found, by the United Nations, no less, to have illegally detained former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyoand yet will not move to rectify this clear miscarriage

of justice.It doesnt really matter if

you agree that Arroyo should continue to be detained or not. But it should mattera lotif the UN working group issued a mere opinion on Arroyos case, as the Aquino govern-ment described it, or if it hand-ed down a judgment that has the force of a legal decision on the matter.

I happen to agree with the Sandiganbayan when it said, in reaction to the declaration of the UN Working Group on Ar-bitrary Detention, that the Phil-ippines has its own set of laws

and is not really subject to any issuances from other nations. But I have to disagree that this means that the government in Manila and its courts can sim-ply ignore the UN ruling on the Arroyo case.

The case that the Philippines filed in the same UN against China is painfully applicable here. How can Manila insist that the UN intervene in the territo-rial dispute in the Kalayaan Is-land Group, using the organiza-tions Convention on the Law of the Sea, when it cannot accept an adverse ruling on the case of the long-detained former President?

THE HYPOCRITE-ROGUE

ON THE fifth day, last Friday, of the General Congregation of the Synod of the Family currently going on in the Vatican, the synod fathers divided them-selves into 13 discussion groups by lan-guage with around 20 members each, one small group is in German, four in English, three in Spanish, two in Italian and three in French. The real work has now begun. The discussion groups will tackle three parts of the instrumentum laboris or working paper which built up on the final report of last Octobers ex-traordinary synod, as well as the sugges-tions and opinions from other Church entities.

This years synod is divided into three parts, with each week dedicated to one of the three sections of the instrumen-tum laboris. The first week of the meet-ing was spent on discussing the docu-ments first section, titled Listening to the challenges of the family. Thereafter, discussion will focus on the second part, titled Discernment of the family voca-tion, before culminating with the third, The mission of the family today. In the end, a 10-member global commission nominated by Pope Francis will draft the final synod report.

Discussions and interventions are not open to the public but periodic briefings are given by designated official spokes-persons who appraise the world of the goings on during the synod. The sum-mary below comes from those briefings.

As the working paper was rolled out, it was reported that several bishops voiced their concern about the text be-ing overly negative, unclear, and possibly inaccurate in its translations. One con-cerned synod participant observed that while various elements of the document were admirable, he found much of the text flawed or inadequate. Another from the English speaking group said that the document also fell short especially in its theology, clarity, trust in the power of grace, its use of scripture and its tenden-cy to see the world through overwhelm-ingly Western eyes. Those from the English speaking circle also noted that the language was problematic, and ex-pressed concern that the English trans-lation may not be faithful to the official Italian text.

In the most recent briefing, Fr. Thom-as Rosica, the English-language assistant to the Holy See press office, told jour-nalists Oct. 10 that the question is not whether were here to change doctrine, but to make sure pastoral care takes ac-count of real, actual, concrete situations of what each person is doing. He read aloud portions of the brief interventions given by unnamed participants of the general congregation. One synod father said: mercy toward sinners is not a form

A SYNOD OF MERCY

if the ruling had gone the other way, then it would have, in all likelihood, accepted it.

China, at least, has never agreed that the UN has jurisdiction over the territorial dispute between Manila and Beijing. By refusing intervention, Chi-na has declared that it cannot be com-pelled to accept any ruling by the UN on the matter.

Not so the Philippine government, in the case of Arroyo. And the Aqui-no administration just proved that it

is a poor loserand an even poorer defender of international laws on the preservation of human rights.

* * *Of course, the Arroyo case is politi-

cally charged. But that doesnt mean that the Aquino government should be allowed to act like it is administering a rogue state when it is accused of hu-man rights violations.

This is certainly not the first time that the Aquino government acted like it was outside the reach of internation-

al convention and law and just plain common decency. The case of the kill-ing of three lumad leaders in Surigao del Sur offers yet another example of the cavalier attitude that this govern-ment has taken in such matters.

To this day, the Department of Foreign Affairs has refused entry of representatives from the UN Special Rapporteurs office who want to in-vestigate the lumad killings. If the Aquino government really has nothing

Continued on A11

CHAOS and confusion marked the first day of the filing of certificates of candidacy at the Intramuros office of the Commission on Elections.

Comelec officials attributed these to changes they introduced to the process. Now there are separate rooms for the filing proper, and yet another room for the interview.

When the first two high-profile candidates filed their certificates at eight in the morning, and media representatives tried to take photos and videos and interview the candidates, no less than the Comelec chairman tried to come between the media and the candidates. The commission spokesperson said media did not follow instructions.

But the circus was not just because of missed cues. On the first day of the filing, 22 individuals of disparate backgrounds and temperament declared their intention to seek the highest post in the land. Some were dead serious; others were plain nuisances. And this was just the first day.

In other Comelec offices, candidates for other posts also started filing their certificates, ensuring that they got attention and mileage. Noticeable were the family members of incumbent officials about to max out their terms, offering themselves up selflessly to the demands of public service, much to the detriment of their personal and family lives.

Down south, a town mayor from Zamboanga Sibugay was gunned down by still-unidentified suspects on the first day of the filing, reminding that elections in the Philippines are not only a circus; they are also bloodsport.

Chaotic is the opposite of orderly, which is what we are all aiming for. An election can only be credible if it is orderly, and the results believable if the people who exercised their right to vote are sober and deliberate, not swayed by fanfare.

Theres a few days left, and then, heavens, the campaign, which will highlight more things about why we vote whom we vote for. Its a noisy season that will be upon us, but if we despise so much where our governments, past and present, have led us, and then perhaps we should rethink the way we respond to their gimmickry, their violence, and their Messianic claims.

The Aquino government should not

be allowed to act like it is

administering a rogue state.

EAGLE EYES

DEAN TONYLA VIA

LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

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Continued on A11

And the Aquino administra-tion had already decided to put itself under the UN working groups jurisdiction. After all, it replied last June to the charge of Arroyo advocate Amal Al-amuddin Clooney that the de-tainees human rights were vio-lated, through the Philippines permanent representative in Geneva, thus tacitly agreeing that the group can and should rule on the matter.

But now that the panel has decided the case, the Aquino government has decided that the decision is of no value, be-cause the Philippines has its own laws and the UN cannot enforce its decision. What the government is not saying is that

OPINIONA8

[ EDI TORI A L ]

CLASH OF CLOWNS

A9ADELLE CHUAE D I T O RT U E S D AY : O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

BEFORE the story is buried under the news of who or what has filed his, her or its certificate of candidacy for the coming elections, I feel compelled to say: the Aquino administration has been conclusively found, by the United Nations, no less, to have illegally detained former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyoand yet will not move to rectify this clear miscarriage

of justice.It doesnt really matter if

you agree that Arroyo should continue to be detained or not. But it should mattera lotif the UN working group issued a mere opinion on Arroyos case, as the Aquino govern-ment described it, or if it hand-ed down a judgment that has the force of a legal decision on the matter.

I happen to agree with the Sandiganbayan when it said, in reaction to the declaration of the UN Working Group on Ar-bitrary Detention, that the Phil-ippines has its own set of laws

and is not really subject to any issuances from other nations. But I have to disagree that this means that the government in Manila and its courts can sim-ply ignore the UN ruling on the Arroyo case.

The case that the Philippines filed in the same UN against China is painfully applicable here. How can Manila insist that the UN intervene in the territo-rial dispute in the Kalayaan Is-land Group, using the organiza-tions Convention on the Law of the Sea, when it cannot accept an adverse ruling on the case of the long-detained former President?

THE HYPOCRITE-ROGUE

ON THE fifth day, last Friday, of the General Congregation of the Synod of the Family currently going on in the Vatican, the synod fathers divided them-selves into 13 discussion groups by lan-guage with around 20 members each, one small group is in German, four in English, three in Spanish, two in Italian and three in French. The real work has now begun. The discussion groups will tackle three parts of the instrumentum laboris or working paper which built up on the final report of last Octobers ex-traordinary synod, as well as the sugges-tions and opinions from other Church entities.

This years synod is divided into three parts, with each week dedicated to one of the three sections of the instrumen-tum laboris. The first week of the meet-ing was spent on discussing the docu-ments first section, titled Listening to the challenges of the family. Thereafter, discussion will focus on the second part, titled Discernment of the family voca-tion, before culminating with the third, The mission of the family today. In the end, a 10-member global commission nominated by Pope Francis will draft the final synod report.

Discussions and interventions are not open to the public but periodic briefings are given by designated official spokes-persons who appraise the world of the goings on during the synod. The sum-mary below comes from those briefings.

As the working paper was rolled out, it was reported that several bishops voiced their concern about the text be-ing overly negative, unclear, and possibly inaccurate in its translations. One con-cerned synod participant observed that while various elements of the document were admirable, he found much of the text flawed or inadequate. Another from the English speaking group said that the document also fell short especially in its theology, clarity, trust in the power of grace, its use of scripture and its tenden-cy to see the world through overwhelm-ingly Western eyes. Those from the English speaking circle also noted that the language was problematic, and ex-pressed concern that the English trans-lation may not be faithful to the official Italian text.

In the most recent briefing, Fr. Thom-as Rosica, the English-language assistant to the Holy See press office, told jour-nalists Oct. 10 that the question is not whether were here to change doctrine, but to make sure pastoral care takes ac-count of real, actual, concrete situations of what each person is doing. He read aloud portions of the brief interventions given by unnamed participants of the general congregation. One synod father said: mercy toward sinners is not a form

A SYNOD OF MERCY

if the ruling had gone the other way, then it would have, in all likelihood, accepted it.

China, at least, has never agreed that the UN has jurisdiction over the territorial dispute between Manila and Beijing. By refusing intervention, Chi-na has declared that it cannot be com-pelled to accept any ruling by the UN on the matter.

Not so the Philippine government, in the case of Arroyo. And the Aqui-no administration just proved that it

is a poor loserand an even poorer defender of international laws on the preservation of human rights.

* * *Of course, the Arroyo case is politi-

cally charged. But that doesnt mean that the Aquino government should be allowed to act like it is administering a rogue state when it is accused of hu-man rights violations.

This is certainly not the first time that the Aquino government acted like it was outside the reach of internation-

al convention and law and just plain common decency. The case of the kill-ing of three lumad leaders in Surigao del Sur offers yet another example of the cavalier attitude that this govern-ment has taken in such matters.

To this day, the Department of Foreign Affairs has refused entry of representatives from the UN Special Rapporteurs office who want to in-vestigate the lumad killings. If the Aquino government really has nothing

Continued on A11

CHAOS and confusion marked the first day of the filing of certificates of candidacy at the Intramuros office of the Commission on Elections.

Comelec officials attributed these to changes they introduced to the process. Now there are separate rooms for the filing proper, and yet another room for the interview.

When the first two high-profile candidates filed their certificates at eight in the morning, and media representatives tried to take photos and videos and interview the candidates, no less than the Comelec chairman tried to come between the media and the candidates. The commission spokesperson said media did not follow instructions.

But the circus was not just because of missed cues. On the first day of the filing, 22 individuals of disparate backgrounds and temperament declared their intention to seek the highest post in the land. Some were dead serious; others were plain nuisances. And this was just the first day.

In other Comelec offices, candidates for other posts also started filing their certificates, ensuring that they got attention and mileage. Noticeable were the family members of incumbent officials about to max out their terms, offering themselves up selflessly to the demands of public service, much to the detriment of their personal and family lives.

Down south, a town mayor from Zamboanga Sibugay was gunned down by still-unidentified suspects on the first day of the filing, reminding that elections in the Philippines are not only a circus; they are also bloodsport.

Chaotic is the opposite of orderly, which is what we are all aiming for. An election can only be credible if it is orderly, and the results believable if the people who exercised their right to vote are sober and deliberate, not swayed by fanfare.

Theres a few days left, and then, heavens, the campaign, which will highlight more things about why we vote whom we vote for. Its a noisy season that will be upon us, but if we despise so much where our governments, past and present, have led us, and then perhaps we should rethink the way we respond to their gimmickry, their violence, and their Messianic claims.

The Aquino government should not

be allowed to act like it is

administering a rogue state.

EAGLE EYES

DEAN TONYLA VIA

LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

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Continued on A11

politicians, former Sen-ate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, who both endorsed the candidacy of Bongbong. Why else would they he be endors-ing a candidate if they dont see him as a winner?

Now about Chiz. He is my good friend and so is his wife, Heart Evange-lista. His Bicolandia base is now divided by other Bicolanos, like Leni Ro-bredo, running mate of administration candidate Mar Roxas, Alan Peter Cayetano, whose wife is a Bicolana, Antonio Trillanes and Gringo Ho-nasan, who are also from Bicol. Aside from Bicol, Chiz has no other base.

Even now, Bongbong Marcos is already No. 2 in the vice presidential race. The next and upcoming survey polls will prove me right.

* * *Last Saturday, when I

went to join my 365 Club

buddies at the Hotel Inter-con, I learned that Ayala will, by year-end, demol-ish the hotel and build some kind of gateway to the Ayala Central Busi-ness District.

I was worried. We at the 365 Club had been staying at the Intercon since 1972.

The management of Intercon, however, as-sured us that we would be transferred to the Holi-day Suites Hotel, a Hotel Intercontinental subsid-iary.

We will miss Hotel In-tercon and its manage-ment led by our very good friend Christian Peridon, who is also the manager of Holiday Suites Hotel.

But we in the 43-year-old club are glad because Holiday Suites Hotel is not far from Intercon.

* * *I was not mistaken

when I listed resigned Metro Manila Develop-ment Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino as one

of the best appointees of BS Aquino III, among few others.

Tolentino resigned as MMDA chairman, a cabi-net position, and asked to have his name erased from the list of the ad-ministrations senatorial candidates. This indicates self-respect and delica-deza. Tolentinos decision was caused by the dance performance of The Play-girls two weeks ago. The lewd acts led to political controversy.

Tolentino had denied that he was the one who engaged The Playgirls as a gift to Laguna Rep. Ben-jamin Agarao, but media and his political oppo-nents insist it was him. Tolentino even apologized for the incident, even if President Aquino, the titular head of the Liberal Party, did not.

I believe that Tolen-tino does not deserve all the brickbats that me-dia threw at him. He is

the most hardworking MMDA chairman I have known. My gulay, why should he be blamed for the worsening Metro Ma-nila traffic gridlock, espe-cially at Edsa? Even with the PNP Highway Patrol Group now in command of Edsas traffic, it will still take you more than two hours that avenue.

For so long as we dont have enough skyways and other means of commut-ing along Edsa, traffic jams will stay. If anybody or any agency has to be blamed, it should be the Department of Transpor-tation and Communica-tions, and the President himself. They knew Edsa traffic will come to this, but they did not do any-thing.

Foreign Direct In-vestments, and influx of tourists? Forget it. Not with our kind of traffic problems, pollution, and flash flood the moment it rains.

OPINIONT U E S D AY : O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

A10

SECTION 26 of the Fair Elections Act is not fair at all. It allows elected offi-cials (I am not sure if it in-cludes not only senators, but also member of the House of Representatives, and other elected local of-ficials) to run for Presi-dent or Vice President. If they lose, however, they just go back to serve the remainder of their terms.

Just look at the politi-cal horizon now. There are five senators running for the vice presidency, and one congresswom-an. Under Section 26 of the Fair Elections Act, if four of the senators lose, they can always go back to serve the rest of their terms in the Senate. The lone congresswoman, a first termer, will wait for another three years before she can run again for the same position.

This is why I support the amendment to the Fair Elections Act. Such a law needs to be fair and equitable. Santa Banana, it encourages senators to run even without any hope of winning, except for the funds of it, be-cause they can always go back as senators. If they lose, they would have won a jackpot in donations and contributions.

* * *Speaking of senators

running for President or vice president. If Senator Grace Poe does not make itgranted, of course, that she is not first dis-qualified for not being a natural-born Filipinoshe can always go back as senator to finish her first term for another three years. She can aspire again for the presidency in 2022,

but if she loses again, she will be senator until 2025.

Lucky girl, isnt she?In the case of the five

other senators running for the vice presidency, the entry of Senator Bong-bong Marcos into the fray makes the race for the No. 2 position of the land in-teresting and even excit-ing.

While Senator Chiz Es-cudero remains ahead of the pack, having been the second choice for the vice presidency next to Mrs. Grace Poe Llamanzares in all surveys, analysts and political observers say that the only son of the late strongman President Ferdinand E. Marcos, with or without a running mate, can win.

For one thing, Bong-bong Marcos has Ilocan-dia, both Region I and Region II, including parts of Pangasinan, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija as his politi-cal base. But, more impor-tantly, there are so many Ilocanos in Mindanao and even the Visayas. And dont forget that the former First Lady Imelda Romualdez hails from Ta-cloban, Leyte, the eastern part of the Visayas. Santa Banana, as an Ilocano my-self, I can say: once an Ilo-cano, always an Ilocano. This is a general rule.

No matter what some people think of the Mar-coses and martial law, the fact is that Marcos was the most brilliant Filipino President, who also did a lot of his country. Dont forget that the NLEX and SLEX were started by Marcos, and the Marcos Highway all the way to Leyte. Rice self-sufficien-cy was attained during the Marcos regime.

And because of Martial Law, he broke the backbone of the communist insur-gency; made the separatist Moro National Liberation Front irrelevant with the self-exile of Nur Misuari.

Lest I am misunder-stood, I am not justifying martial law which sup-pressed our freedoms and civil rights, together with its excesses. But, my gulay, in my more than 65 years as a journalist, having walked the corridors of power and having seen the best and worst of adminis-trations, I can say that the Marcos regime had the best of technocrats and cabinet members.

Take it from veteran

THE SON ALSO RISES

GRAIN FROM CHAFFTHE circus officially begins this week when those aspiring for national office start trooping to the Commission on Elections at Intramuros to file their respective certificates of candidacy. The whole exercise will be marked by all kinds of gimmickry which people will try to pass off as ceremonial pomp and pageantry. There will be ati-atihan dancers, marching bands, cheer leaders, confetti, and hordes of placard-waving and shrieking supporters garbed in whatever colors the candidates have chosen to represent themselves.

What all the extravaganza has to do with the occasion baffles the mind. When we come to think about it, the filing of certificates of candidacy should be a solemn, if not sacred, moment. Its when a candidate declares under oath his or her sincere intention to serve the people. It is supposed to mark the moment when the proverbial die is cast, when a candidate makes a date with destiny. Why candidates cheapen such a potentially poignant moment is indicative of their character and the value they attach to elective positions.

Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista has laid down the specific guidelines to be followed during the filing of candidacies this week. He has particularly asked that candidates limit to a certain number the supporters who would join them inside the Comelec offices. Lets see if Bautista is able to implement his guidelineswe all know from experience that most candidates and their supporters have the tendency to flaunt laws. The irony is that these people claim to be messiahs representing change and

reform, yet they cannot be bothered to follow basic laws of courtesy and responsible citizenship. For example, most of them will be organizing motorcades that will create monstrous traffic jams that will inconvenience hundreds of thousands of peoplethe same ones they swear they will serve. And we can all be sure that all of them will be leaving behind tons of trash at Intramuros that most of them cannot be bothered to clean up. So right at the very start we already know that many of these people are hypocritestheir actions are not aligned with their supposed intentions.

This week, therefore, we really should be on the lookout for the candidates who will treat the filing of their certificates of candidacies with the decorum required of the occasion. Its when we separate the clowns from the earnest public servants, the buffoons from the sensible ones, the grain from the chaff.

But then again, weve already known the real worth of certain candidates prior to this weeks filing of certificates of candidacies.

For example, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who declared his intention to run for the vice presidency last week, made big declarations about the supposedly bold and revolutionary transformation that he wants to initiate once he gets elected into office. In the interest of disclosure, I will state for the record that having personally suffered from the political repression that

was prevalent during the Marcos dictatorship, I loathe the Marcoses and what they represent. However, I will respect, albeit grudgingly, anybodys right to run for any office and to make an utter fool of himself or herself in the process. In the case of Marcos, his bold pronouncements about the kind of movement that he will initiate and pursue once he gets elected as vice president come across not only as hollow and insincere they were also, quite frankly, ridiculously implausible.

Unless the line of succession is invoked, the post of vice president in this country has no value; he or she serves at the pleasure of the President. Of course we all know that the vice president is next in line to the President, but theres no guarantee that he or she is treated as such. In many instances in the past, weve even had Presidents who deliberately bypassed or ignored the vice president. Lets call a spade a dirty shovelthe post of vice president is basically a decorative or ceremonial position. Worse, if the person occupying the post is not on the good side of the President, he or she ends up doing absolutely nothing, usually given token responsibilities hardly worth crowing about. So how Marcos intends to initiate his grand movement as vice president is perplexing.

We all know that Marcos is not exactly a moron, so we know that he knows about the limitations of the functions of the vice president. All those grand pronouncements, therefore were just thatan exercise in rhetorical discourse. Thats what Marcoses do best. Seriously, folksweve been there before, havent we learned our lesson from the Marcos dictatorship yet?

Why else would

political veterans support Marcos?

ARE WE THERE YET?

BONG C. AUSTERO

TO THE POINT

EMIL P. JURADO

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

A11T U E S D AY : O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR

VICTOR AVECILLA

WHATS THE FUSS ABOUT?TO MAKE up for the devas-tation the Japanese Imperial Army caused to East and South East Asian countries during World War II, Japan has taken the initiative to finance note-worthy infrastructure devel-opment projects of friendly governments in the region. The Japanese agency tasked with this large-scale undertak-ing is the Japan International Cooperation Agency for Over-seas Deve-lopment Assistance or JICA for short.

Actually, the JICA does not give out moneyit lends money to developing coun-tries to finance the construc-tion of buildings, facilities, and roadways for public wel-fare. The JICA receives pro-posals from interested govern-ments, evaluates them, and if a proposal appears worthwhile and feasible, negotiations are undertaken between JICA representatives and officials of the government concerned.

Infrastructure projects fi-nanced by the JICA have to satisfy certain standards and conditions imposed by the lender, and comply with per-tinent laws on procurement of the borrowing country. Often, the borrower must hire the services of certain experts en-dorsed by the JICA.

A recent JICA-funded proj-ect has attracted some atten-tion latelya five-year con-tract for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the 123-ki-

lometer Surigao-Davao-Su-rigao (Lipata)-Agusan del Norte Road. This project is to be supervised by the De-partment of Public Works and Highways. The approved budget for the undertaking is P3,422,688,199.31.

Under Philippine law, a public bidding must be conducted by the DPWH, and bidders must comply with bidding rules and regulations. The bidding itself involves two basic phasespre-qualif icat ion, where disqualified bidders are weeded out, and the bidding itself, where the bids are opened and the contract is awarded to the winning bidder.

An interested bidder must submit the required documen-tation to prove that it is capa-ble of constructing the project within the stipulated period, and in accordance with the specified standards. It must also submit documentation to show that it has sufficient experience in the large-scale construction industry, and that it has undertaken con-struction projects of a simi-lar or near-similar nature or scale. Of course, it must offer to complete the project in an amount within the approved budget.

Bidders who do not com-ply with the documentation requirement are disqualified in the pre-qualification phase

of the bidding. This measure is designed to, among oth-ers, protect the government from fly-by-night entities de-termined to win the contract without finishing the project.

Compliance with these guidelines is mandated by both Philippine law, and by the JICA.

From the records available, it appears that three corporate entities expressed interest in the roadway projectChina Wuyi Co. Ltd., Wijaya Karya (Persero), Tbk., and the joint venture of the Equi-Parco Construction Co. and Hebei Road and Bridge Group Co., Ltd. In the course of the pre-qualification phase, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the DPWH discovered that the first two bidders lacked the requisite documentation, and that they do not have adequate experience in the large-scale construction industry. Only the third bidder, the joint ven-ture of Equi-Parco and Hebei, passed the pre-qualification phase.

In the end, only the Equi-Parco-Hebei joint venture submitted a valid bid in the amount of P3,321,551,974,95. Accordingly, the contract was awarded to it.

The JICA conducted its own evaluation of the bidding process,